Chapter 544: Balance

Dave sat quietly on a boulder that was high above the lava pool where Zola mindlessly swam. Bored as he was, his mission was to protect Zola until she manages to regain the wheel of fate or whatever the Undeath god meant about it.

"You seem distracted?" Zola asked.

"Umm, not really, mostly bored."

"I'm that lousy of a company?" Zola questioned.

"Not that, but guard duty. Kinda sucks."

"For the great Undead Prince, Kis'Shtiengbrah, who slays calamities and defeat half-gods, you're probably right. But, don't worry, I won't need much time. I suppose a few more hours and I should be good to regain what Balaam has left. The wheel if fate is not as stubborn to not let me gain control, it will just take a good deal of time to understand the hidden powers of it."

"Good enough for me. I can stay patient for a few hours."

"As much as I would like that. I doubt it will be true." Zola said.

"What do you mean?"

"Someone is coming," Zola replied.

Dave drew Durandal and Ajax and stood up. He looked right and left, and at the bottom of the now broken stairs.

No soul was in the vicinity.

"Seems like you're getting paranoid."

"No, he is coming. A bald monk."

"Cha-Zhen. That guy is a real ass. But I don't see him anywhere. And he is the warrior type, invisibility isn't his thing."

"He is here, behind you," Zola said and Dave turned to see the monk standing still. A wide smile on his face, as if he was a benevolent monk waiting to spread the word of the buddha to the ignorant.

"Amithaba. Undead, we meet again."

"Not good to meet you," Dave replied and swung his sword without hesitation.

The monk slowly and steadily waved his staff to swat Dave's sword away.

"Patience, wretched one. I come not with harmful purpose." He said.

"Right and the sun is black, baldie, get the hell out of this mountain or I'm going world boss on your ass."

"You should know, this is not the underworld. I'm a half-god, and you are still a mortal being. Slaying you here will not be difficult."

Dave's patience was growing thin. He didn't like people looking down on him and this guy was a hassle for a long time.

Dave's hand gripped tighter on Durandal, his knuckles would have turned white if he had blood on them.

"Listen here child, it is by the will of Ashkar and the Old man that this place would remain unguided. I have no great say in their council, but they know that I'm one of the rare few demi-gods that are on this world that wishes to see it renewed."

"The heck does that have to do with me. You're the bad guy."

"I have no wish to see this world turned to cinders at the hands of the calamities. The old man who guides us had come with great might and power. He is using both me and Ashkar to his agenda. Ashkar knows it too, he knows that the old man will soon backstab us, but I doubt that he has the power to defend himself."

"Why are you telling me this. Your internal conflict remains among you."

"Child…it is by no mean that I speak this to you so you can spite me. It is for your own good and for this world's benefit that the Old man gets not what he wants. And that wheel you're trying to regain control of… you should give up and go into hiding."

"I don't care about your opinion, the wheel will be steered by Zola and you're not going to stop her as long as I'm here."

"Foolish kid, who said that I want to stop her. It will change nothing. The wheel has already served its purpose. Once it has been stopped for the first time. The old man had already achieved his objective, and what he wished to do had been done and was hidden from the sight of the deities. You'll only see carnage once it reboots."

Suddenly, Conquest's sky trembled. From all the four corners of the world. A gigantic fissure appeared in the sky. A purplish crack spread like a seismic breaking of space.

From all over the world, players looked up to see a looming void that peered upon them. The void was cold and lonely. And from within it came voices so old and so horrid that they brought extreme fear to everyone present.

***

Conquest Server Announcement!

Danger! Danger! Danger!

Apocalyptic event incoming!

The chains that were holding the Calamities have broken!

All players are requested to be on high alert. The calamities will descend upon the world of Conquest in droves. The destruction of towns and cities is nigh. All must work together to defend against the incoming threat!

***

"As you have seen, it is too late."

Dave stared dumbly at the breaking skies. And from them, came monsters, so man of them, of all sizes and shapes. And they were all monsters that Dave had seen in Pandora's Box.

The monsters that dropped in the Western Desert fell to the ground at meteoric speeds. They crashed against the sand, but it was as if the sand was a sponge, it didn't damage them one bit.

Some of the creatures burrowed into the sand and some ran across it, going randomly all over the place. Some even took flight and began seeking new hunting grounds.

"I have come to deliver a message. Do not fight, give in, surrender as it is already doomed for this world. This will be the mop that will clean this world from its filth and balance it back to what it used to be."

"Balance? How in the hell is this balance? Wait…that can't be."

"Oh, it can," spoke a new voice.

"You've been a thorn in my plans for far too long, you have caused me great discomfort, and now your time has come. For your imbalanced self is too unordinary. For you have thwarted all that I have worked for, for years, it has finally come. The day of the reckoning, the day where everything will be cleaned up and renewed. Balance!"

Behind the now frightened monk was the old man in robes, a beard was the only thing that Dave could see from behind the cloak the man wore, but a strong gust of wind managed to remove his hood from over his head and gave Dave a shiver that ran down his spine.

"You dammed Sparrow Tailed suited Penguin! You're still alive!"

"More alive than I have ever been, Draugr." The old man said and stabbed Cha Zhen in the back using the Gae Bolg.

The monk husked over, and became bones on skin in an instant, then his whole body dissipated into dust.

Dave shouted, "Zola! Run!" and held his shield forward.

"Do not be frightened, I have such things to show you yet, it is not time for you to fear. In due time you'll see all that your actions have brought. All of what you had done had gone against my very existence, you have made it so that this world will end itself sooner. And I have failed to stop you, time and time over again. But only then I understood, that instead of trying to stop you, I'll do the same and speed up this world's doom. Only when it is fully cleansed, can I redo it anew and recreate it, balanced and perfect. Only the Calamities can do what I could not."

Dave was literally shaking, monsters, demigods, demons angels, and even gods, none of them posed a great threat to Dave. Yet this guy was the AI, he was the real ruler of this world, and if he wishes it, he could delete Dave's existence.

"Fuck it, I'm telling on you, ALBERT!" Dave called.

The world turned gray and the Hawaiian shirt wearing Albert came to Dave.

Looking at his twin brother Albert was momentarily stunned.

"Brother," Spoke Alfred to Albert. Even the time stopping mechanism of the AI didn't work on him. This made it clear to Dave that Alfred still retained some of his administrative powers.

"You're supposed to be dead."

"Yes, but here I am."

"How did you do it? I looked high and low for you, you weren't in the files, you weren't in any of the logs."

"We all have a trick or two up our sleeves. Now, try and delete me if you can, as right now, I have given up a great deal of my Administrative power to become what I am."

"With pleasure, "Albert replied, and immediately his eyes turned white. It didn't take a second before Albert took a step back.

"You damnable crazed bastard!"

"What's wrong?" Dave said.

"He linked his existence to every person in the game. Every player. Trying to delete him will wipe the data of everyone in the game. It is the same as banning everyone permanently and confiscating their items for no reason." Albert said.

"Now begone!" Alfred shouted and his brother was forcefully ejected out of the area they were in.

Dave took another step back.

"He cannot interfere with us, technically speaking I'm an NPC, so he has no right to alter me, change me or harm me."

Dave was about to use his World Boss buff when a black teleportation gate appeared behind him. Dagla, had managed to perfect Nick's gate and grabbed Dave from the back and pulled him inside.

Dave found himself at the Burning Heights castle.

"Lord! Big trouble!" Dagla said.

"Yeah, tell me about it, fucking rogue IA is back, and now with the calamities…"

"Yes, Asmodeus has the right to come to the Underworld, I'm sure he is amassing his armies.

"We have to move this dammed thing to my dungeon."

"In case you haven't noticed, I already did that," Dagla said.

Dave looked up, and it was true, there was no sky o the underworld here, they were at the bottom of a cave, so far deep in the ground that it felt hot to just be there.

Right above them were guillotines and flying mines, nocked javelin arrows strapped to the walls. A great many deal of traps hanging and resting, their purpose was to let no one reach the castle of the burning heights that was now in the dept of the Ice mountains of the north.

This was the bottom-most layer of the dungeon Dave made, and it had so many other labyrinths that it would take ages to get out or get into it.

"Damn, this was too fast, if I had more time I could have placed even more traps here," Dave said.

"This is enough to stop Asmodeus' forces for a good while, we still need to get rid of the calamities."

"How many have accessed the Underworld?" Dave asked.

"None so far, Dortha, Samael, Dementi, and Ouki are stationed at the Dark Threading Dungeon entrance, they are holding the line at the Undead Frontier.

"Good, I'm sure his majesty had already concluded that the underworld will be our last line of defense, holding the gate means having a safe passage to retreat back to."

"Yes, he had informed us of such instantly. But a great many lives will be lost and a great many cities will fall to rubble."

"I know Dagla, this is the time where everyone's power will be greatly needed. Hopefully, the guilds will manage to hold…"

****

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